Chris's long journey of self-discovery

Chris McCandless believed that the pinnacle of freedom meant to achieve total isolation–whether it be from people, authority, or, in simplest terms, society. However, when McCandless began his journey by eluding human contact and heading to the open road, these actions created a gateway to what McCandless documented as something he wasn’t particularly fond of. What could be seen as isolation began to interweave with the concept of intimacy. Chris’ long journey of self-discovery in nature allowed him to forge interpersonal relationships with those he met on the road.

In Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer uses his lengthy investigation into Chris McCandless’ death to highlight the battle of isolation vs. intimacy and how this dilemma developed throughout Chris’ life and journey.

As Chris’ story is told, the more readers are exposed to the isolation vs. intimacy struggle. His estranged view of human connection originated where any initial opinion of human compatibility is developed; within his family. This idea is illustrated in the twelfth chapter of the book, “… as Chris’ resentment of his parents hardened, his sense of outrage over injustice in the world at large grew” (Krakauer, 123).

Chris’ discovery of his father’s past affairs solidified his developing belief that intimate relationships were hardly necessary. The disturbance in his home life set the foundations of what he would consider the rest of society to be, thus setting him on his inevitable journey of self-isolation under the guise of self-discovery.

Interestingly enough, despite Chris rejecting his family and rebuffing human connection, adopting what he believed to be a nomadic and completely independent lifestyle, he wasn’t evading connection at all.

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He fled his family, equating them with his discontentment with society, yet formed intimate relationships with the very people he aimed to evade. Strangers like Jan Burres, Wayne Westerberg, and Ronald Franz became familial figures to Chris, important enough to him that he kept contact with them throughout his journey. Chapter three gives a direct example, “If McCandless felt estranged from his parents and siblings, he found a surrogate family in Westerberg and his employees… That fall he developed a lasting bond with both the town and Wayne Westerberg” (Krakauer, 18). Chris uses his relationships with people like Wayne, Jan, and Ronald to substitute for the broken relationships he had with his family. Despite feeling “extremely uncomfortable with society,” Chris complicatedly continues to make friends with the strangers, members of society, he meets on the road (Krakauer, 37).

Ultimately, Chris is emancipated from the stifling world of society and its bothers once he enters the wilderness and embarks on his Alaskan Odyssey. However, even then, it’s suggested through his recovered belongings that he might have experienced some significant change regarding his views on isolation and the relevancy of intimacy. In Chris’ copy of Doctor Zhivago, he noted “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED” next to a passage which talked about unshared happiness being ingenuine happiness. (Krakauer, 189). McCandless’ extensive, not-so-lonely on the road excursion may have allowed him to reconcile with himself and society, and, through his journey, forced him to discover the importance of human connection. Hence why, in Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer uses his lengthy investigation into Chris McCandless’ death to highlight the battle of isolation vs. intimacy and how this dilemma developed throughout Chris’ life and journey.